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Welcome to the F5 deployment guide for HTTP applications. This document contains guidance on configuring the BIG-IP system version 11.4 and later for most web server implementations, resulting in a secure, fast, and available deployment. This guide shows how to quickly and easily configure the BIG-IP system using the HTTP iApp Application template. There is also an appendix with manual configuration tables for users who prefer to create each individual object.

Why F5?

The BIG-IP system provides a number of ways to accelerate, optimize, and scale HTTP deployments. When the BIG-IP system relieves web servers from tasks such as compression, caching, and SSL processing, each server is able to devote more resources to running applications and can service more user requests.

Important:Make sure you are using the most recent version of this deployment guide, available at http://f5.com/pdf/deployment-guides/rc-iapp-http-dg.pdf. If you are looking for older versions of this or other deployment guides, check the Deployment Guide Archive tab at: https://f5.com/solutions/deployment-guides/archive-608

What is F5 iApp?

F5 iApp™ is a powerful new set of features in the BIG-IP system that provides a new way to architect application delivery in the data center, and it includes a holistic, application-centric view of how applications are managed and delivered inside, outside, and beyond the data center. The iApp template for HTTP applications acts as the single-point interface for building, managing, and monitoring these servers. For more information on iApp, see the White Paper F5 iApp: Moving Application Delivery Beyond the Network at http://www.f5.com/pdf/white-papers/f5-iapp-wp.pdf.

Prerequisites and configuration notes

The following are general prerequisites and configuration notes for this guide:

For this guide, the BIG-IP system mustbe running version 11.4 or later. If you are using a previous version of the BIG-IP system, see the deployment guide index on F5.com. The configuration in this guide does not apply to previous versions.

If you plan to use BIG-IP APM (introduced in v1.2.0rc1 of the template), you must have an existing APM Access Profile, or create one. This template does not create an Access Policy/Profile. For more information on the APM Access Policy or how to configure the Access Profile, see the APM documentation available on support.f5.com. You must also have configured DNS and NTP on the system to use APM. See Appendix B: Configuring additional BIG-IP settings.

This document provides guidance for using the iApp for HTTP applications found in version 11.4 and later. For users familiar with the BIG-IP system, there is a manual configuration table at the end of this guide. However, because the configuration can be complex, we recommend using the iApp template.

If you are using the BIG-IP system to offload SSL or for SSL Bridging, we assume you have already obtained the appropriate SSL certificate and key, and it is installed on the BIG-IP LTM system.

Advanced options and questions in the template are marked with the Advanced icon: . In the iApp template, these questions only appear if you select the Advanced configuration mode.

If you are deploying a specific application, we recommend you first check the deployment guide index at https://f5.com/solutions/deployment-guides to see if there is a deployment guide for your specific application.

If you plan to use the ASM module with v1.2.0rc1 (or later) of the iApp template, you must have created a LTM Policy object with ASM enabled. If you are using RC-4 or later the iApp can create a new ASM policy.

If you are using the BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) for Symmetric optimization between two BIG-IP systems (optional), you must have pre-configured the BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization using the Quick Start wizard or manually configured the necessary objects. See the AAM documentation (http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip-aam.html) for specific instructions on configuring BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization.

Skip ahead

If you are familiar with the HTTP iApp or the BIG-IP system, you can skip the Configuration Scenario and Preparation sections. See:

Optional modules

This HTTP iApp allows you to use the following optional modules on the BIG-IP system. To take advantage of these modules, they must be licensed and provisioned before starting the iApp template. For more information on licensing modules, contact your sales representative.

BIG-IP AAM (formerly BIG-IP WAN Optimization Manager and WebAccelerator) BIG-IP AAM provides application, network, and front-end optimizations to ensure consistently fast performance for today’s dynamic web applications, mobile devices, and wide area networks. With sophisticated execution of caching, compression, and image optimization, BIG-IP AAM decreases page download times. You also have the option of using BIG-IP AAM for symmetric optimization between two BIG-IP systems. For more information on BIG-IP AAM, see http://www.f5.com/products/big-ip/big-ip-application-acceleration-manager/overview/.

Application Visibility and Reporting F5 Analytics (also known as Application Visibility and Reporting or AVR) is a module that lets customers view and analyze metrics gathered about the network and servers as well as the applications themselves. Making this information available from a dashboard-type display, F5 Analytics provides customized diagnostics and reports that can be used to optimize application performance and to avert potential issues. The tool provides tailored feedback and recommendations for resolving problems. Note that AVR is licensed on all systems, but must be provisioned before beginning the iApp template.

BIG-IP AFM BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) is a high-performance, stateful, full-proxy network firewall designed to guard data centers against incoming threats that enter the network on the most widely deployed protocols—including HTTP/S, SMTP, DNS, and FTP. By aligning firewall policies with the applications they protect, BIG-IP AFM streamlines application deployment, security, and monitoring. For more information on BIG-IP AFM, see https://f5.com/products/modules/advanced-firewall-manager.

BIG-IP APM BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is a flexible, high-performance access and security solution that provides unified global access to your business-critical applications and networks. By consolidating remote access, web access management, VDI, and other resources in a single policy control point—and providing easy-to-manage access policies—BIG-IP APM helps you free up valuable IT resources and scale cost-effectively. For more information on BIG-IP APM, see https://f5.com/products/modules/access-policy-manager.

Configuration scenarios

With the iApp template for HTTP servers, you can configure the BIG-IP system to optimize and direct traffic to HTTP servers with ease. You can also configure the BIG-IP system for different system scenarios using the options found in the iApp, as described in this section.

Configuring the BIG-IP system as reverse (or inbound) proxy

In its traditional role, the BIG-IP system is a reverse proxy. The system is placed in the network between the clients and the servers. Incoming requests are handled by the BIG-IP, which interacts on behalf of the client with the desired server or service on the server. This allows the BIG-IP system to provide scalability, availability, server offload, and much more, all completely transparent to the client.

Figure 1: Using the BIG-IP system as a reverse proxy

To configure this scenario

There are no questions in the iApp template that you must answer in a specific way for the BIG-IP system to act as a reverse proxy, the BIG-IP system acts as a reverse proxy by default.

Accelerating application traffic over the WAN

The iApp enables you to use the BIG-IP system's Application Acceleration Manager module to optimize and secure your web traffic over the WAN (wide area network). The iApp uses the default iSession profile to create a secure tunnel between BIG-IP systems to accelerate and optimize the traffic.

In this scenario, you must have a symmetric BIG-IP deployment (as shown in Figure 2), with a BIG-IP system between your clients and the WAN, and another between the WAN and your web servers. You run the iApp template on each of the BIG-IP systems, using the settings found in the following table.

Figure 2: Using an iSession tunnel to secure and optimize traffic between two BIG-IP systems

To configure this scenario

If you select this option, you must have already configured the BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization as mentioned in the prerequisites. See the BIG-IP AAM documentation available on AskF5™ (http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip-aam.html) for specific instructions on configuring BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization.

To configure the system for this scenario, at a minimum you must answer the following questions with the appropriate answers in the iApp template as shown in the following table.

The table assumes you are configuring the BIG-IP system on the client side of the WAN.

Using the BIG-IP system with SSL traffic

The HTTP iApp template provides the following options for dealing with encrypted traffic:

SSL Offload When performing SSL offload, the BIG-IP system accepts incoming encrypted traffic, decrypts (or terminates) it, and then sends the traffic to the servers unencrypted. By saving the servers from having to perform the decryption duties, F5 improves server efficiency and frees server resources for other tasks. SSL certificates and keys are stored on the BIG-IP system.

SSL Bridging With SSL Bridging, also known as SSL re-encryption, the BIG-IP system accepts incoming encrypted traffic, decrypts it for processing, and then re-encrypts the traffic before sending it back to the servers. This is useful for organizations that have requirements for the entire transaction to be SSL encrypted. In this case, SSL certificates and keys must be are stored and maintained on the BIG-IP system and the web servers.

SSL pass-through With SSL pass-through, the BIG-IP system does not process the encrypted traffic at all, just sends it on to the servers.

No SSL (plaintext) In this scenario, the BIG-IP system does not perform any SSL processing, as all traffic is only plaintext.

Server-side encryption In this scenario, the BIG-IP system accepts unencrypted traffic and then encrypts is before sending it to the servers. While more uncommon than offload or bridging, this can be useful for organizations that require all traffic behind the system to be encrypted.

Figure 3: SSL options

To configure these scenarios

For SSL offload or SSL bridging, you must have imported a valid SSL certificate and key onto the BIG-IP system. Importing certificates and keys is not a part of the template, see System > File Management > SSL Certificate List, and then click Import.

Using this guide

This deployment guide is intended to help users deploy web-based applications using the BIG-IP system. This document contains guidance configuring the BIG-IP system using the iApp template, as well as manually configuring the BIG-IP system.

Using this guide to configure the iApp template

We recommend using the iApp template to configure the BIG-IP system for your HTTP implementation. The majority of this guide describes the iApp template and the different options the template provides for configuring the system for HTTP applications.

The iApp template configuration portion of this guide walks you through the entire iApp, giving detailed information not found in the iApp or inline help. The questions in the UI for the iApp template itself are all displayed in a table and at the same level. In this guide, we have grouped related questions and answers in a series of lists. Questions are part of an ordered list and are underlined and in italics or bold italics. Options or answers are part of a bulleted list, and in bold. Questions with dependencies on other questions are shown nested under the top level question, as shown in the following example:

Top-level question found in the iApp template Select an answer from the list.

Select an object you already created from the list (such as a profile or pool; not present on all questions. Shown in bold italic)

Choice #1 (in the drop-down list)

Choice #2 (in the drop-down list)

Second level question dependent on selecting choice #2

Sub choice #1

Sub choice #2

Third level question dependent on sub choice #2

Sub-sub choice

Sub-sub #2

Fourth level question (and so on)

Manually configuring the BIG-IP system

Users already familiar with the BIG-IP system can use the manual configuration tables to configure the BIG-IP system for the HTTP implementation. These configuration tables only show the configuration objects and any non-default settings recommended by F5, and do not contain procedures on specifically how to configure those options in the Configuration utility. See Appendix A: Manual configuration table.

Preparing to use the iApp

In order to use the iApp for HTTP applications, it is helpful to have some information, such as server IP addresses and domain information before you begin. Use the following table for information you may need to complete the template. The table does not contain every question in the template, but rather includes the information that is helpful to have in advance. More information on specific template questions can be found on the individual pages.

BIG-IP System Preparation Table

Basic/Advanced mode

In the iApp, you can configure the system for your HTTP application with F5 recommended settings (Basic mode) which are a result of extensive testing and tuning with a wide variety of HTTP applications. Advanced mode allows configuring the BIG-IP system on a much more granular level, configuring specific options, or using your own pre-built profiles or iRules. Basic/Advanced "configuration mode" is independent from the Basic/Advanced list at the very top of the template which only toggles the Device and Traffic Group options

Network

Type of network betweenclients and the BIG-IP system

Type of network between servers and the BIG-IP system

LAN | WAN | WAN through another BIG-IP system

LAN | WAN | WAN through another BIG-IP system

If WAN through another BIG-IP system, you must have BIG-IP AAM pre-configured for Symmetric Optimization.

Where are BIG-IP virtual servers in relation to the servers

Expected number of concurrent connections per server

Same subnet | Different subnet

More than 64k concurrent | Fewer than 64k concurrent

If they are on different subnets, you need to know if the web servers have a route through the BIG-IP system. If there is not a route, you need to know the number of concurrent connections.

If more than 64k per server, you need an available IP address for each 64k connections you expect for the SNAT Pool

SSL Encryption

SSL offload or SSL bridging

Re-encryption (Bridging and server-side encryption)

If configuring the system for SSL Offload or SSL Bridging, you must have imported a valid SSL certificate and key onto the BIG-IP system. You have the option of also using an Intermediate (chain) certificate as well if required in your implementation.

Certificate:

Key:

Intermediate Certificate (optional):

When the BIG-IP system encrypts traffic to the servers, it is acting as an SSL client and by default we assume the servers do not expect the system to present its client certificate on behalf of clients traversing the virtual server. If your servers expect the BIG-IP system to present a client certificate, you must create a custom Server SSL profile outside of the template with the appropriate certificate and key.

Virtual Server and Pools

Virtual server

HTTP server pool

The virtual server is the address clients use to access the servers.

The load balancing pool is the LTM object that contains the servers.

IP address for the virtual server:

Associated service port:

FQDN clients will use to access the HTTP servers:

IP addresses of the servers:

2:

4:

6:

8:

1:

3:

5:

7:

9:

Profiles

The iApp template can create profiles using the F5 recommended settings, or you can choose Do not use many of these profiles). F5 recommends using the profiles created by the iApp; however you also have the option of creating your own custom profile outside the iApp and selecting it from the list. The iApp gives the option of selecting the following profiles (some only in Advanced mode). Any profiles must be present on the system before you can select them in the iApp.

In Advanced mode, you have the option of selecting the type of HTTP request the health monitor uses: GET or POST.

You can also specify Send and Receive strings to more accurately determine server health.

Send string (the URI sent to the servers):

Receive string (what the system expects in return):

POST Body (only if using POST):

Also in advanced mode, the monitor can attempt to authenticate to the web servers as a part of the health check. If you want the monitor to require credentials, create a user account specifically for this monitor that has no additional permissions and is set to never expire. Account maintenance becomes a part of the health monitor, as if the account is deleted or otherwise changed, the monitor will fail and the servers will be marked down.

Application Acceleration Manager

You can optionally use the BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager (AAM) module to help accelerate your HTTP traffic. To use BIG-IP AAM, it must be fully licensed and provisioned on your BIG-IP system. Consult your F5 sales representative for details. If you are using BIG-IP AAM, and want to use a custom Web Acceleration policy, it must have an Acceleration policy attached.

iRules

In Advanced mode, you have the option of attaching iRules you create to the virtual server created by the iApp. For more information on iRules, see https://devcentral.f5.com/irules. Any iRules you want to attach must be present on the system at the time you are running the iApp.

Configuring the BIG-IP iApp for HTTP applications

Use the following guidance to help configure the BIG-IP system for HTTP applications using the BIG-IP iApp template.

Downloading and importing the new iApp

The first task is to download and import the new HTTP iApp template.

To download and import the iApp

Open a web browser and go to downloads.f5.com.

Click Find a Download, and then click BIG-IP v11.x / Virtual Edition.

If necessary, select a BIG-IP product version from the list, and then click iApp-Templates.

Accept the EULA, and then download the iapps zip file to a location accessible from your BIG-IP system.

Extract (unzip) the f5.http.v1.2.0.tmpl file, found in the HTTP directory of the zip file.

Log on to the BIG-IP system web-based Configuration utility.

On the Main tab, expand iApp, and then click Templates.

Click the Import button on the right side of the screen.

Click a check in the Overwrite Existing Templates box.

Click the Browse button, and then browse to the location you saved the iApp file.

Click the Upload button. The iApp is now available for use.

Upgrading an Application Service from previous version of the iApp template

If you configured your BIG-IP system using a previous version of the f5.http iApp template, we strongly recommend you upgrade the iApp template to the most recent version.

When you upgrade to the current template version, the iApp retains all of your settings for use in the new template. In some new versions, you may noticed additional question, or existing questions asked in different ways, but your initial settings are always saved.

To upgrade an Application Service to the current version of the template

From the Main tab of the BIG-IP Configuration utility, expand iApp and then click Application Services.

Click the name of your existing f5.http application service from the list.

On the Menu bar, click Reconfigure.

At the top of the page, in the Template row, click the Change button to the right of the list.

From the Template list, select f5.http..

Review the questions in the new template, making any necessary modifications. Use the iApp walkthrough section of this guide for information on specific questions.

Click Finished.

Getting Started with the iApp for HTTP applications

To begin the HTTP iApp Template, use the following procedure.

Log on to the BIG-IP system.

On the Main tab, expand iApps, and then click Application Services.

Click Create. The Template Selection page opens.

In the Name box, type a name. In our example, we use HTTP-iapp_.

From the Template list, select f5.http.. The HTTP template opens.

Advanced options

If you select Advanced from the Template Selection list at the top of the page, you see Device and Traffic Group options for the application. This feature is a part of the Device Management configuration. This functionality extends the existing High Availability infrastructure and allows for clustering, granular control of configuration synchronization and granular control of failover. To use the Device and Traffic Group features, you must have already configured Device and Traffic Groups before running the iApp. For more information on Device Management, see the product documentation.

Device Group
To select a specific Device Group, clear the Device Group check box and then select the appropriate Device Group from the list.

Traffic Group
To select a specific Traffic Group, clear the Traffic Group check box and then select the appropriate Traffic Group from the list.

Template Options

This section contains general questions about the way you configure the iApp template.

Do you want to see inline help?
Choose whether you want to see informational and help messages inline throughout the template, or if you would rather hide this inline help. If you are unsure, we recommend having the iApp display the inline help. Important and critical notes are always shown, no matter which selection you make.

Yes, show inline help text
Select this option to see all available inline help text.

No, do not show inline help text
If you are familiar with this iApp template, or with the BIG-IP system in general, select this option to hide the inline help text.

Which configuration mode do you want to use?
Select whether you want to use F5 recommended settings, or have more granular, advanced options presented.

Basic - Use F5’s recommended settings
In Basic configuration mode, options like load balancing method and parent profiles are all set automatically. The F5 recommended settings come as a result of extensive testing with web applications, so if you are unsure, choose Basic.

Advanced - Configure advanced options
In Advanced configuration mode, you have more control over individual settings and objects, such as server-side optimizations and advanced options like Slow Ramp Time and Priority Group Activation. You can also choose to attach iRules you have previously created to the Application Service. The Advanced option provides more flexibility for experienced users. Advanced options in the template are marked with the Advanced icon: . If you are using Basic/F5 recommended settings, you can skip the questions with the Advanced icon.

Network

This section contains questions about your networking configuration.

Do you want to use the latest TCP profiles?This question only appears if you are using BIG-IP v13.0 or later. If using a previous version, continue with #2. BIG-IP v13.0 and later contain new, higher performing TCP profiles. If you are using this version, you can choose whether you want to use these new profiles, or continue to use the profiles from previous versions of BIG-IP. For specific details on the new profiles, see the BIG-IP documentation.

Please select one
This option exists to force you to chose one option or the other. This was necessary to maintain backward compatibility.

Yes, use the new profiles (recommended)
Select this option to use the new optimized TCP profiles.

No, use the older profiles
Select this option if you have a reason to continue using the older TCP profiles.

What type of network connects clients to the BIG-IP system?
Choose the type of network that connects your clients to the BIG-IP system. If you choose WAN or LAN, the BIG-IP system uses this information to determine the appropriate TCP optimizations. If you choose WAN through another BIG-IP system, the system uses a secure an optimized tunnel (called an iSession tunnel) for traffic between BIG-IP systems on opposite sides of the WAN. Only choose this option if you have another BIG-IP system across the WAN that will be a part of this implementation.

Local area network (LAN)
Select this option if most clients are connecting to the BIG-IP system on a LAN. This field is used to determine the appropriate TCP profile which is optimized for LAN clients. In this case, the iApp creates a TCP profile using the tcp-lan-optimizedparent with no additional modifications.

Wide area network
Select this option if most clients are connecting to the BIG-IP system over a WAN. This field is used to determine the appropriate TCP profile which is optimized for WAN clients. In this case, the iApp creates a TCP profile using the tcp-wan-optimized parent with no additional modifications.

WAN through another BIG-IP system
Select this option if client traffic is coming to this BIG-IP system from a remote BIG-IP system across a WAN. As mentioned in the introduction to this question, the iApp creates an iSession tunnel between this BIG-IP system and the BIG-IP system you will configure (or already have configured) on the other side of the WAN. If you select this option, you must have already initially configured the BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization. See the BIG-IP AAM documentation available on Ask F5 for specific instructions on configuring BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization.

Do you want to restrict client traffic to specific VLANs?(11.5 and later) Which VLANs transport client traffic? (11.4.x)
The BIG-IP system allows you to restrict client traffic to specific VLANs that are present on the system. This can provide an additional layer of security, as you can allow or deny traffic from the VLANs you choose. By default, all VLANs configured on the system are enabled. If you select to enable or disable traffic on specific VLANs, you must specify the VLANs in the next question. The VLAN objects must already be configured on this BIG-IP system before you can select them. In version 11.4.x, you can only allow traffic from specific VLANs using the iApp template; v11.5 and later enables you to allow or deny client traffic from specific VLANs. If using v11.4.x, all allowed VLANs appear in the Selected list. Use the Move buttons to adjust list membership. Only VLANs in the Selected list are allowed. With 11.4.x, you do NOT see the following options.

Enable traffic on all VLANs and Tunnels
Choose this option to allow traffic from all VLANs and Tunnels. If you select this option, the question asking about VLANs disappears. Continue with #3.

Yes, enable traffic only on the VLANs I specify
Choose this option to restrict client traffic to specific VLANs that you choose in the following question. The system will accept client traffic from these VLANs, and deny traffic from all other VLANs on the system.

On which VLANs should traffic be enabled or disabled?
Use this section to specify the VLANs that will accept client traffic. By default, all VLANs on the BIG-IP system appear in the Selected box, so click the VLANs and then use the Move buttons to adjust list membership. Note: If you choose to allow traffic from certain VLANs, when additional VLANs are added to the BIG-IP system at a later time, this iApp configuration will deny traffic from these VLANs by default. To accept traffic from these VLANs, you must re-enter the template and add the VLAN(s).

Yes, disable traffic only on the VLANs I specify
Choose this option to deny client traffic from the specific VLANs that you choose in the following question. The system will refuse client traffic from these VLANs, and accept traffic from all other VLANs on the system.

On which VLANs should traffic be enabled or disabled?
Use this section to specify the VLANs that should not accept client traffic. By default, all VLANs on the BIG-IP system appear in the Selected box, so it is critical in this case that you click the VLANs and then use the Move button (>>) to adjust list membership. Warning If you choose to disable certain VLANs, you must move at least one VLAN to the Options list. Otherwise, the system will deny traffic from all VLANs on the box, and the configuration, although valid, will not pass any traffic.

What type of network connects servers to the BIG-IP system?
Choose the type of network that connects your servers to the BIG-IP system. Similar to the question about clients connecting to the BIG-IP system, if you choose WAN or LAN, the system uses this information to determine the appropriate TCP optimizations. If you choose WAN through another BIG-IP system, the system uses a secure an optimized tunnel (called an iSession tunnel) for traffic between BIG-IP systems on opposite sides of the WAN. Only choose this option if you have another BIG-IP system across the WAN that will be a part of this HTTP implementation.

Local area network (LAN)
Select this option if the servers connect to the BIG-IP system on a LAN. This field is used to determine the appropriate TCP profile. In this case, the iApp creates a TCP profile using the tcp-lan-optimizedparent with no additional modifications.

Wide area network
Select this option if the servers connect to the BIG-IP system over a WAN. This field is used to determine the appropriate TCP profile. In this case, the iApp creates a TCP profile using the tcp-wan-optimized parent with no additional modifications.

WAN through another BIG-IP system
Select this option if servers are across a WAN behind another BIG-IP system. As mentioned in the introduction to this question, the iApp creates an iSession tunnel between this BIG-IP system and the BIG-IP system you will configure (or already have configured) on the other side of the WAN. If you select this option, you must have already initially configured the BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization. See the BIG-IP AAM documentation available on Ask F5 for specific instructions on configuring BIG-IP AAM for Symmetric Optimization.

Where will your BIG-IP virtual servers be in relation to the web servers?
Select whether your BIG-IP virtual servers are on the same subnet as your web servers, or on different subnets. This setting is used to determine the secure NAT (SNAT) and routing configuration.

BIG-IP virtual server IP and web servers are on the same subnet
If the BIG-IP virtual servers and HTTP servers are on the same subnet, SNAT is configured on the BIG-IP virtual server and you must specify the number of concurrent connections.

How many connections to you expect to each web server?
Select whether you expect more or fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections to each server. This answer is used to determine what type of SNAT that system uses. A SNAT is an object that maps the source client IP address in a request to a translation address defined on the BIG-IP device. The system configures SNAT Auto Map (fewer than 64,000) or a SNAT pool (more than 64,000).

Fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections
Select this option if you expect fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections per web server. With this option, the system applies SNAT Auto Map, doesn’t require any additional IP addresses, as an existing self IP address is used for translation. Continue with Virtual Server and Pools.

More than 64,000 concurrent connections
Select this option if you have a very large deployment and expect more than 64,000 connections at one time. The iApp creates a SNAT Pool, for which you need one IP address for each 64,000 connections you expect.

Create a new SNAT pool or use an existing one?
If you have already created a SNAT pool on the BIG-IP system, you can select it from the list. Otherwise, the system creates a new SNAT pool with the addresses you specify.

Create a new SNAT pool
Select this option (the default) to enable the system to create a new SNAT pool. You must specify the appropriate number of IP addresses in the next question.

Which IP addresses do you want to use for the SNAT pool?
Specify one otherwise unused IP address for every 64,000 concurrent connections you expect, or fraction thereof. Click Add for additional rows. Do not use any self IP addresses on the BIG-IP system.

Select a SNAT pool
Select the SNAT pool you created for this deployment from the list. Important If you choose more than 64,000 connections, but do not specify enough SNAT pool address(es), after the maximum connection limit of 64,000 concurrent connections per server is reached, new requests fail.

BIG-IP virtual servers and web servers are on different subnets
If the BIG-IP virtual servers and servers are on different subnets, the following question appears.

How have you configured routing on your web servers?
If you chose different subnets, this question appears asking whether the web servers use this BIG-IP system’s self IP address as their default gateway. Select the appropriate answer.

Servers have a route to clients through the BIG-IP system
Choose this option if the servers use the BIG-IP system as their default gateway. In this case, no configuration is needed to support your environment to ensure correct server response handling. Continue with the next section.

Servers do not have a route to clients through the BIG-IP system
If the web servers do not use the BIG-IP system as their default gateway, SNAT is configured on the BIG-IP virtual server and you must select the expected number of concurrent connections in the next question.

How many connections to you expect to each web server?
Select whether you expect more or fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections to each server. This answer is used to determine what type of SNAT that system uses. A SNAT is an object that maps the source client IP address in a request to a translation address defined on the BIG-IP device. The system configures SNAT Auto Map (fewer than 64,000) or a SNAT pool (more than 64,000).

Fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections
Select this option if you expect fewer than 64,000 concurrent connections per web server. With this option, the system applies SNAT Auto Map, doesn’t require any additional IP addresses, as an existing self IP address is used for translation. Continue with the SSL Encryption section.

More than 64,000 concurrent connections
Select this option if you have a very large deployment and expect more than 64,000 connections at one time. The iApp creates a SNAT Pool, for which you need one IP address for each 64,000 connections you expect.

Create a new SNAT pool or use an existing one?
If you have already created a SNAT pool on the BIG-IP system, you can select it from the list. Otherwise, the system creates a new SNAT pool with the addresses you specify.

Create a new SNAT pool
Select this option (the default) to enable the system to create a new SNAT pool. You must specify the appropriate number of IP addresses in the next question.

Which IP addresses do you want to use for the SNAT pool?
Specify one otherwise unused IP address for every 64,000 concurrent connections you expect, or fraction thereof. Click Add for additional rows. Do not use any self IP addresses on the BIG-IP system.

Select a SNAT pool
Select the SNAT pool you created for this deployment from the list. Important If you choose more than 64,000 connections, but do not specify enough SNAT pool address(es), after the maximum connection limit of 64,000 concurrent connections per server is reached, new requests fail.

Access Policy Manager (BIG-IP APM)

This entire section only appears if you have licensed and provisioned BIG-IP APM

The section in this scenario asks about BIG-IP APM. If you do choose to use BIG-IP APM, it must be fully licensed and provisioned. If you are not deploying APM, continue with the next section. To use APM, you must have DNS and NTP configured on the BIG-IP system, see Appendix B: Configuring additional BIG-IP settings.

Important You must have an existing APM Access Profile to use the APM features in this template. See the APM documentation for instructions on creating an Access Policy.

No, do not provide secure authentication using BIG-IP APM
Select this option if you do not want to use the BIG-IP APM at this time. You can always reconfigure the iApp template at a later date should you decide to add BIG-IP APM functionality.

Yes, provide secure authentication using BIG-IP APM
Select this option if you want to use the BIG-IP APM to provide proxy authentication and secure remote access for your application.

Which Access Profile do you want to use?
Select the Access Profile Access Profile you created for this implementation.

Which Per-Request Access Policy do you want to use?
If you have created a Per-Request Access policy for this configuration, select it from the list. After a session starts, a per-request policy runs each time the client makes an HTTP or HTTPS request. A per-request policy must provide the logic for determining how to process URL requests. Depending on the actions you include in the per-request policy, it can control whether or not to bypass SSL traffic and must determine whether to allow or reject a URL request.

SSL Encryption

Before running the template you should have already imported a certificate and key onto the BIG-IP system. While the BIG-IP system does include a self-signed SSL certificate that can be used internally or for testing, we strongly recommend importing a certificate and key issued from a trusted Certificate Authority for processing client-side SSL.

For information on SSL certificates on the BIG-IP system, see the online help or the Managing SSL Certificates for Local Traffic chapter in theConfiguration Guide for BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager available at http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us.html.

How should the BIG-IP system handle SSL traffic?
There are four options for configuring the BIG-IP system for SSL traffic. Select the appropriate mode for your configuration.

Encrypt to clients, plain text to servers (SSL Offload)
Choose this method if you want the BIG-IP system to offload SSL processing from the servers. You need a valid SSL certificate and key for this method.

Which Client SSL profile do you want to use?
Select whether you want the iApp to create a new Client SSL profile, or if you have already created a Client SSL profile which contains the appropriate SSL certificate and key. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific Client SSL settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. To select a profile from the list, it must already be present on the BIG-IP system. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic > Profiles > SSL > Client to create a Client SSL profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Select an existing Client SSL profile
If you created a Client SSL profile for this implementation, select it from the list. If you select an existing Client SSL profile, the rest of the questions in this section disappear. Continue with Virtual Server and Pools.

Create a new Client SSL profile
Select this option for the iApp to create a new Client SSL profile.

Which SSL certificate do you want to use?
Select the SSL certificate you imported for this implementation.

Which SSL private key do you want to use?
Select the associated SSL private key.

Which intermediate certificate do you want to use?
If your deployment requires an intermediate or chain certificate, select the appropriate certificate from the list. Immediate certificates are intended to create a chain of trust between the CA that signed the certificate and the CA that is already trusted by the recipient of the certificate. This allows the recipient to verify the validity of the certificates presented, even when the signing CA is unknown.

Terminate SSL from clients, re-encrypt to servers (SSL Bridging)
Choose this method if you want the BIG-IP system to terminate SSL to process it, and then re-encrypt the traffic to the servers (SSL Bridging). You need a valid SSL certificate and key for the client-side, and optionally for the server-side (see #b).

Which Client SSL profile do you want to use?
Select whether you want the iApp to create a new Client SSL profile, or if you have already created a Client SSL profile which contains the appropriate SSL certificate and key. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific Client SSL settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. To select a profile from the list, it must already be present on the BIG-IP system. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic > Profiles > SSL > Client to create a Client SSL profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Select an existing Client SSL profile
If you created a Client SSL profile for this implementation select it from the list. If you select an existing Client SSL profile, the rest of the questions in this section disappear. Continue with Virtual Server and Pools.

Create a new Client SSL profile
Select this option for the iApp to create a new Client SSL profile

Which SSL certificate do you want to use?
Select the SSL certificate you imported for this implementation.

Which SSL private key do you want to use?
Select the associated SSL private key.

Which intermediate certificate do you want to use?
. If your implementation requires an intermediate or chain certificate, select the appropriate certificate from the list. Immediate certificates are intended to create a chain of trust between the CA that signed the certificate and the CA that is already trusted by the recipient of the certificate. This allows the recipient to verify the validity of the certificates presented, even when the signing CA is unknown.

Which Server SSL profile do you want to use?
Select whether you want the iApp to create the F5 recommended Server SSL profile, or if you want to choose a Server SSL profile you already created. In this scenario, the BIG-IP system is acting as an SSL client and by default, we assume the servers do not expect the BIG-IP system to present its client certificate on behalf of clients traversing the virtual server. If your servers expect the BIG-IP system to present a client certificate, you must create a custom Server SSL profile with the appropriate certificate and key. The default, F5 recommended Server SSL profile uses the serverssl parent profile. For information about the ciphers used in the Server SSL profile, see http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/8000/800/sol8802.html.

Encrypted traffic is forwarded without decryption (SSL pass-through)
Choose this method if you do not want the BIG-IP system to do anything with encrypted traffic and simply send it to the web servers. This is similar to SSL bridging, although in this case the system does not decrypt then re-encrypt the traffic, it only sends it on to the servers without modification. If you select this option, the system changes the default persistence option from Cookie to Source Address Persistence.

Plain text to clients, encrypt to servers
Choose this method if you want the BIG-IP system to accept plain text from the clients and then encrypt it before sending it to the servers. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific Server SSL settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. To select a profile from the list, it must already be present on the BIG-IP system. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic > Profiles > SSL > Server to create a Server SSL profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template. The default, F5 recommended Server SSL profile uses the serversslparent profile. For information about the ciphers used in the Server SSL profile, see http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/8000/800/sol8802.html.

Plain text to both clients and servers
Choose this method if the BIG-IP system is not sending or receiving any SSL traffic in this implementation.

Application Security Manager (BIG-IP ASM)

This section gathers information about BIG-IP Application Security Manager if you want to use it to help protect your deployment. This section only appears if you have fully licensed and provisioned BIG-IP ASM. Contact your F5 sales representative for details.

Important If you are using an iApp version prior to v1.2.0rc4 only: In order to use BIG-IP ASM, you must have manually created a BIG-IP LTM Policy that includes ASM and applicable Rules. Creating an LTM policy is outside the scope of this guide. For specific information, see the Help tab or BIG-IP documentation.

Do you want to deploy BIG-IP Application Security Manager?
Choose whether you want to use BIG-IP ASM to help secure this HTTP deployment. If you choose to use BIG-IP ASM, you must have a BIG-IP LTM policy with ASM enabled.

No, do not use Application Security Manager
Select this option if you do not want to enable BIG-IP ASM at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to enable BIG-IP ASM. Continue with the next section.

Select an existing LTM policy with ASM enabled from the list
If you already created a BIG-IP ASM policy with ASM enabled for this implementation, select it from the list. Only LTM Policy objects with ASM enabled appear in the list. Continue with substep 'b' following create a new ASM policy.

Yes, use ASM and create a new ASM policyThis option only appears in v1.2.0rc4 and later of the HTTP iApp.
Select this option if you want to use ASM, and want the iApp to create an ASM policy for you. Note that the enforcement mode for the policy will be set to transparent, which means violations are logged but not blocked.

Which ASM template should be used to build the policy?
Choose the template you want the system to use to create the ASM policy. We recommend using the default, POLICY_TEMPLATE_RAPID_DEPLOYMENT. Again, the iApp creates the policy in Transparent mode. Before manually changing the mode to blocking, review the log results and adjust the policy if necessary. See the ASM documentation for specific instructions.

Which logging profiles would you like to use?
The logging profile enables you to log detailed information about BIG-IP ASM events and store those logs on the BIG-IP system or a remote logging server. If you choose to use a logging profile, we strongly recommend creating a custom profile outside the template and then selecting it from the list. iApp version 1.2.0rc7 enables the ability to select multiple logging profiles. Select the profile(s) you want to enable, and then click the Add button to move them to the Selected box. Important When you store the logs locally, the logging utility may compete for system resources.

Which language encoding is used for ASM? Choose the language encoding you want ASM to use. If you are unsure, leave the default, Unicode (utf-8).

Advanced Firewall Manager (BIG-IP AFM)

The option for deploying AFM only appears in BIG-IP version 11.6 and later and if you have AFM licensed and provisioned

This section gathers information about BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager if you want to use it to protect the HTTP deployment. This section only appears if you have fully licensed and provisioned BIG-IP AFM. Contact your F5 sales representative for details. For information specific on BIG-IP AFM, see http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip-afm.html, and then select your version.

Do you want to use BIG-IP AFM to protect your application?
Choose whether you want to use BIG-IP AFM, F5's network firewall, to secure this HTTP deployment. If you choose to use BIG-IP AFM, you can restrict access to the HTTP virtual server to a specific network or IP address. See the BIG-IP AFM documentation for specific details on configuring AFM.

No, do not use Application Firewall Manager
Select this option if you do not want to enable BIG-IP AFM at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to enable BIG-IP AFM. Continue with the next section.

Select an existing AFM policy from the list
If you already created a BIG-IP AFM policy for this implementation, select it from the list. Continue with c.

Yes, use F5's recommended AFM configuration
Select this option if you want to enable BIG-IP AFM using F5's recommended configuration.

Do you want to restrict access to your application by network or IP address?
Choose whether you want to restrict access to the HTTP implementation via the BIG-IP virtual server.

No, do not restrict source addresses (allow all sources)
By default, the iApp configures AFM to accept traffic destined for the HTTP virtual server from all sources. If you do not have a need to restrict access to the virtual server, leave this option selected and then continue with b.

Restrict source addresses
Select this option if you want to restrict access to the HTTP virtual server by IP address or network address.

What IP or network addresses should be allowed to access your application?
Specify the IP address or network access that should be allowed access to the HTTP virtual server. You can specify a single IP address, a list of IP addresses separated by spaces (not commas or other punctuation), a range of IP addresses separated by a dash (for example 192.0.2.10-192.0.2.100), or a single network address, such as 192.0.2.200/24.

How do you want to control access to your application from sources with a low reputation score?
The BIG-IP AFM uses an IP intelligence database to categorize IP addresses coming into the system. Choose what you want the system to do for sources that are attempting to access the HTTP virtual server with a low reputation score. For more information, see the BIG-IP AFM documentation. Important You must have an active IP Intelligence license for this feature to function. See https://f5.com/products/modules/ip-intelligence-services for information. See Troubleshooting for a mandatory modification to the configuration if you are using AFM and the IP Intelligence feature to restrict or log traffic with low reputation scores.

Allow all sources regardless of reputation
Select this option to allow all sources, without taking into consideration the reputation score.

Reject access from sources with a low reputation
Select this option to reject access to the HTTP virtual server from any source with a low reputation score.

Allow but log access from sources with a low reputation
Select this option to allow access to the HTTP virtual server from sources with a low reputation score, but add an entry for it in the logs.

Would you like to stage a policy for testing purposes?
Choose whether you want to stage a firewall policy for testing purposes. A staged policy allows you to evaluate the effect a policy has on traffic by analyzing the system logs, without actually modifying traffic based on the firewall rules. You must already have a policy on the system in order to select it.

Do not apply a staging policy
Select this option if you do not want to apply a logging profile at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to add a logging profile. Continue with the next question.

Select an existing policy from the list
If you have already created a firewall policy for this implementation, select it from the list. Only policies that already exist on the system appear in the list. To create a new policy, on the Main tab, click Security > Network Firewall > Policies. Specific instructions for creating a firewall policy is outside the scope of this iApp and deployment guide.

Which logging profile would you like to use?
Choose whether you or not you want to use a logging profile for this AFM implementation. You can configure the BIG-IP system to log detailed information about BIG-IP system Network Firewall events and store those logs on the BIG-IP system or a remote logging server (supports syslog and Splunk). The list only contains profiles with Network Firewall enabled. To create a logging profile, on the Main tab, click Security > Event Logs > Logging Profiles. Specific instructions for creating a logging profile is outside the scope of this iApp and deployment guide. See the online help or the About Local Logging with the Network Firewall chapter of the BIG-IP Network Firewall: Policies and Implementations guide for more information.

Do not apply a logging profile
Select this option if you do not want to apply a logging profile at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to add a logging profile. Continue with the next question.

Select an existing logging profile from the list
If you have already created a logging profile for this implementation, select it from the list. You must create a profile before it is available in the list.

Which Denial-of-Service profile do you want to use?
If you created a Denial-of-Service profile for this implementation, select it from the list. The Denial-of-Service (DoS) profile can enable Layer 7 application DoS protection of HTTP traffic and Layer 7 DoS protection for SIP and DNS traffic. The iApp template does not create a DoS profile, if you want to use this functionality, you must create a custom DoS Profile outside the template.

Do not use a DoS profile
Select this option if you do not want use a DoS profile at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to add this profile. Continue with the next question.

Select an existing DoS profile from the list
If you have already created a DoS profile for this implementation, select it from the list. Only policies that already exist on the system appear in the list. Specific instructions for creating a DoS profile is outside the scope of this iApp and deployment guide.

Which HTTP protocol security profile do you want to use?
If you created an HTTP protocol security profile for this implementation, select it from the list. The HTTP protocol security profile consists of many different security checks for the various components of HTTP traffic. The iApp template does not create a HTTP Security profile, if you want to use this functionality, you must create a custom HTTP Security profile outside the template.

Do not use an HTTP protocol security profile
Select this option if you do not want use a HTTP security profile at this time. You can always re-enter the template at a later date to add this profile. Continue with the next question.

Select an existing HTTP protocol security profile from the list
If you have already created a HTTP security profile for this implementation, select it from the list. Only policies that already exist on the system appear in the list. Specific instructions for creating a HTTP security profile is outside the scope of this iApp and deployment guide.

Virtual Server and Pools

This section gathers information about your HTTP deployment that will be used in the BIG-IP virtual server and load balancing pool.

What IP address do you want to use for the virtual server?
Type the IP address you want to use for the BIG-IP virtual server. This is the address clients use (or a DNS entry resolves to this address) to access the HTTP deployment via the BIG-IP system. If necessary for your configuration, this can be a network address to create a network virtual server (you must specify an IP mask in the following question for a network virtual server). A network virtual server is a virtual server whose IP address has no bits set in the host portion of the IP address (that is, the host portion of its IP address is 0), allowing the BIG-IP system to direct client connections that are destined for an entire range of IP addresses, rather than for a single destination IP address. Thus, when any client connection targets a destination IP address that is in the network specified by the virtual server IP address, the system can direct that connection the pool of HTTP servers.

If using a network virtual address, what is the IP mask?
If you specified a network address for the virtual server (allowing the virtual server to handle multiple IP addresses), you must enter the full network mask representing the address range. If you specified a single address, you may leave this field blank.

What port do you want to use for the virtual server?
Type the port number you want to use for the BIG-IP virtual server. For HTTP deployments, this is typically 80 (HTTP) or 443 (HTTPS).

Which FQDNs will clients use to access the servers?
Type each fully qualified domain name clients will use to access the HTTP deployment. Click the Add button to insert additional rows. If you only have one FQDN, do not click Add.

Do you want to redirect inbound HTTP traffic to HTTPS?This question only appears if you selected SSL Offload or SSL Bridging in the SSL question.
Select whether you want the BIG-IP system to automatically redirect HTTP traffic to the HTTPS virtual server. This is useful when users forget to use HTTPS when attempting to connect to the HTTP deployment.

Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
Select this option to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS. If you select this option (the default), the BIG-IP system attaches a very small redirect iRule to the virtual server.

From which port should traffic be redirected?
Type the port number for the traffic that you want to redirect to HTTPS. The most common is port 80 (the default).

Do not redirect HTTP to HTTPS
Select this option if you do not want to enable the automatic redirect.

Which HTTP profile do you want to use?
The HTTP profile contains settings for instructing the BIG-IP system how to handle HTTP traffic. Choose whether you want the iApp to create a new HTTP profile or if you have previously created an HTTP profile for this deployment. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific HTTP settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. To select a profile from the list, it must already be present on the BIG-IP system. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic > Profiles > Services > HTTP to create a HTTP profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Select an existing HTTP profile from the list
If you already created an HTTP profile for this implementation, select it from the list.

Create a new HTTP profile (recommended)
Select this option for the iApp to create a new HTTP profile.

Should the BIG-IP system insert the X-Forwarded-For header?
Select whether you want the BIG-IP system to insert the X-Forwarded-For header in the HTTP header for logging purposes.

Insert the X-Forwarded-For header
Select this option if you want the system to include the X-Forwarded-For header. You may have to perform additional configuration on your HTTP servers to log the value of this header. For more information on configuring logging refer to the server documentation.

Do not insert the X-Forwarded-For header
Select this option if you do not want the system to include X-Forwarded-For in the HTTP header.

Which persistence profile do you want to use?
By using persistence, the system tracks and stores session data, such as the specific pool member that serviced a client request, ensuring client requests are directed to the same pool member throughout the life of a session or during subsequent sessions. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific persistence settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Persistence to create a persistence profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template. Select one of the following persistence options:

Use Cookie Persistence (recommended)
- If you chose SSL pass-through,"(recommended)" does not appear Leave this default option to have the BIG-IP system create a new cookie persistence profile (cookie insert mode). With Cookie persistence, the BIG-IP system uses an HTTP cookie stored on the client’s computer to allow the client to reconnect to the same server previously visited. We recommend this method for most configurations, except for SSL pass-through.

Source IP Address persistence
Select this option if you want to use the Source IP address (also known as simple) persistence. With this mode, the BIG-IP system assigns the built-in Source Address Affinity persistence type, and directs session requests to the same server based only on the source IP address. This is the recommended method if you are using SSL pass-through.

Do not use persistence
If your implementation does not require persistent connections, select this option.

Select an existing persistence profile
If you have previously created a persistence profile, you have the option of selecting it instead of allowing the iApp to create a new one. From the list, select an existing persistence profile. We recommend using a persistence profile that uses Cookie persistence, Insert mode.

Would you like to add a fallback persistence profile?
You can also choose to add a fallback persistence profile. This is useful if, for example, your default persistence profile is based on Cookie persistence, and you have clients who are blocking or unable to use cookies. In this case, the system creates a secondary or fallback persistence record for each new client connection. The system evaluates subsequent client connections using persistence data provided by the client and locally stored persistence records. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific persistence settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Persistence to create a fallback persistence profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template. Select one of the following persistence options:

Use Source IP Address persistence
Select this option if you want to use the Source IP address (also known as simple) persistence as a fallback. With this mode, the BIG-IP system assigns the built-in Source Address Affinity persistence type, and directs session requests to the same server based only on the source IP address.

Do not use fallback-persistence If your implementation does not require persistent connections, select this option.

Select an existing fallback persistence profile
If you have previously created a fallback persistence profile, you have the option of selecting it instead of allowing the iApp to create a new one. From the list, select an existing persistence profile.

Do you want to create a new pool or use an existing one?
A load balancing pool is a logical set of servers, grouped together to receive and process traffic. When clients attempt to access the application via the virtual server, the BIG-IP system distributes requests to any of the servers that are members of that pool.

Select an existing pool If you have already created a pool for your HTTP servers, you can select it from the list. If you do select an existing pool, all of the rest of the questions in this section disappear.

Do not use a pool If you are deploying this iApp in such a way that you do not need a pool of HTTP servers, select this option. If you specified that the servers are connected to the BIG-IP system over the WAN through another BIG-IP system, this is the default option, as the system is sending the traffic across the iSession tunnel to the other BIG-IP system to be distributed to the servers.

Create a new pool Leave this default option to create a new load balancing pool and configure specific options.

Which load balancing method do you want to use?
Specify the load balancing method you want to use for this web server pool. We recommend the default, Least Connections (member).

Do you want to give priority to specific groups of servers?
Select whether you want to use Priority Group Activation. Priority Group Activation allows you to segment your servers into priority groups. With Priority Group Activation, the system load balances traffic according to the priority number you assign to the pool members. A higher number indicates higher priority. Traffic is only sent to the servers with the highest priority, unless the number of available servers in that priority group falls below the value you specify as the minimum. The BIG-IP then sends traffic to the group of servers with the next highest priority, and so on. See the BIG-IP documentation for details.

Do not use Priority Group Activation (recommended)
Select this option if you do not want to enable Priority Group Activation.

Use Priority Group Activation
Select this option if you want to enable Priority Group Activation. You must add a priority to each server in the Priority box described in #c.

What is the minimum number of active members for each priority group?Specify the minimum number of servers that must be active to continue sending traffic to the priority group. If the number of active servers falls below this minimum, traffic will be sent to the group of servers with the next highest priority group number.

Which web servers should be included in this pool?
Specify the IP address(es) of your web servers. If you have existing nodes on this BIG-IP system, you can select them from the list, otherwise type the addresses. You can optionally add a Connection Limit. If you enabled Priority Group Activation, you must also specify a Priority for each device. Click Add to include additional servers.

Delivery Optimization

In this section, you answer questions about how you want the BIG-IP system to optimize the delivery of your HTTP traffic.

Use the BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager?This question only appears if you have licensed and provisioned the BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager (AAM).
Choose whether you want to use the BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager (formerly known as WebAccelerator). BIG-IP Application Acceleration Manager helps accelerate your HTTP traffic.

No, do not use BIG-IP AAM
Select this option if you do not want to enable BIG-IP AAM at this time.

Which Web Acceleration profile do you want to use for caching?
Select whether you want the system to create a new Web Acceleration profile, or if you have already created a Web Acceleration profile for use in this deployment. The Web Acceleration profile contains the caching settings for this implementation. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific acceleration settings (such as specific allowing/denying specific URIs), we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Services : Web Acceleration to create an acceleration profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template. Note if using BIG-IP AAM: If you are using BIG-IP AAM, and want to select a custom Web Acceleration profile for caching you have already created, it must have an AAM application enabled, otherwise it does not appear in the list of caching profiles. If you want access to all Web Acceleration profiles on the box, then you must choose No to the use BIG-IP AAM question. Use a custom Web Acceleration profile only if you need to define specific URIs that should or should not be cached. Note if notusing BIG-IP AAM: If you are not using BIG-IP AAM, we recommend you only use a custom Web Acceleration profile if you need to define specific URIs which should or should not be cached. You can continue with #6.

Create a profile based on optimized-caching (recommended)
Leave this default option to create a new Web Acceleration profile for caching.

Do not use cachingThis question does not appear if you chose to enable BIG-IP AAM
Select this option if you do not want to enable caching on the BIG-IP system for this implementation.

Select an existing Web Acceleration profile If you have already created a Web Acceleration profile for your HTTP servers, you can select it from the list.

Do you want to insert the X-WA-Info header?This question only appears if you chose to enable BIG-IP AAM The BIG-IP system can optionally insert an X-WA-Info response header that includes specific codes describing the properties and history of the object. The X-WA-Info response header is for informational and debugging purposes only and provides a way for you to assess the effectiveness of your acceleration policy rules. By default, the AAM X-WA-info header is not included in the response from the BIG-IP system. If you choose to enable this header, you have two options, Standard and Debug. In Standard mode, the BIG-IP system inserts an HTTP header that includes numeric codes which indicate if and how each object was cached. In Debug mode, the BIG-IP system includes additional information which may help for extended troubleshooting.

Do not insert the header (recommended)
Select this option if you do not want to insert the X-WA-Info header. Typically F5 recommends not inserting the header unless instructed to do so by an F5 Technical Support Engineer.

Insert the Debug header
Select this option if you want to insert the Debug header for extended troubleshooting.

Do you want to use the legacy AAM performance monitor?This question only appears if you chose to enable BIG-IP AAM Enabling the legacy AAM performance monitor can adversely affect system performance. This monitor is primarily used for legacy AAM performance monitoring and debugging purposes, and can adversely affect system performance. The BIG-IP Dashboard provides performance graphs and statistics related to AAM.

Do not enable the legacy performance monitor (recommended)
Select this option if you do not want to enable the legacy monitor.

Enable the legacy performance monitor
Select this option if you want to enable the legacy performance monitor. Remember enabling this legacy monitor can impact overall system performance.

For how many days should the BIG-IP system retain the data?
Specify the number of days the BIG-IP system should retain the legacy performance data.

Which acceleration policy do you want to use?This question only appears if you chose to enable BIG-IP AAM
Select one of the following predefined acceleration policies from the list.

Generic Policy - Extension Based
This predefined acceleration policy is ideal for High Performance policy for E-commerce applications that uses File Extensions instead of mime-types. This application policy is ideal if response-based matching is not required.

Which compression profile do you want to use? Compression improves performance and end user experience for Web applications that suffer from WAN latency and throughput bottlenecks. Compression reduces the amount of traffic sent to the client to complete a transaction.

Create a profile based on wan-optimized-compression
Select this option if you want the system to create a new profile based on the wan-optimized-compression parent profile. This profile is recommended if your clients are connecting over a WAN.

Do not compress HTTP responses
Select this option if you do not want the system to compress HTTP responses. This selection is recommended if your clients are connecting over a LAN.

Select an existing compression profile from the list
If you have already created a comrpession profile for your HTTP servers, you can select it from the list.

How do you want to optimize client-side connections?
The client-side TCP profile optimizes the communication between the BIG-IP system and the client by controlling the behavior of the traffic which results in higher transfer rates, improved connection reliability and increased bandwidth efficiency. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific TCP optimization settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic > Profiles > Protocol > TCP to create a TCP profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Create the appropriate tcp-optimized profile (recommended)
Select this option to have the system create the recommended TCP profile. The parent profile (either WAN or LAN optimized) is determined by your selection to the “What type of network connects clients to the BIG-IP system” question.

Select the TCP profile you created from the list
If you created a custom TCP profile for the HTTP servers, select it from the list.

Server offload

In this section, you configure the options for offloading tasks from the servers. This section only appears if you selected Advanced mode.

Which OneConnect profile do you want to use?
OneConnect (connection pooling or multiplexing) improves server scalability by reducing load associated with concurrent connections and connection rate to HTTP servers. When enabled, the BIG-IP system maintains one connection to each HTTP server which is used to send requests from multiple clients. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. F5 recommends the default profile which is optimized for most HTTP servers. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Other : OneConnect to create a OneConnect profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Create a profile based on the oneconnect parent (recommended)
Select this option to have the system create the recommended OneConnect profile. The system uses the oneconnect parent profile with a Source Mask setting of 255.255.255.255.

Do not use a OneConnect profile
Select this option if you do not require the BIG-IP system to perform connection pooling using a OneConnect profile.

Select the OneConnect profile you created from the list If you created a custom OneConnect profile for the HTTP servers, select it from the list.

Which NTLM profile do you want to use?
The NTLM profile optimizes network performance when the system is processing NTLM traffic. When both an NTLM profile and a OneConnect profile are enabled, the system can take advantage of server-side connection pooling for NTLM connections. If your environment uses NTLM, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile unless you have requirements for configuring specific settings. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Other : NTLM to create a NTLM profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Use F5’s recommended NTLM profile
Select this option to have the system create the recommended NTLM profile. The system uses the ntlm parent profile.

Do not use NTLM (recommended)
Select this option if you do not use NTLM authentication in your HTTP implementation.

Select the NTLM profile you created from the list
If you created a custom NTLM profile for the HTTP servers, select it from the list.

How do you want to optimize server-side connections?
The server-side TCP profile optimizes the communication between the BIG-IP system and the server by controlling the behavior of the traffic which results in higher transfer rates, improved connection reliability and increased bandwidth efficiency. Unless you have requirements for configuring specific TCP optimization settings, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new profile. Creating a custom profile is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Profiles : Protocol : TCP to create a TCP profile. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Create the appropriate tcp-optimized profile (recommended)
Select this option to have the system create the recommended TCP profile. The parent profile (either WAN or LAN optimized) is determined by your selection to the “What type of network connects servers to the BIG-IP system” question.

Select the TCP profile you created from the list
If you created a custom TCP profile for the HTTP servers, select it from the list.

Should the BIG-IP system queue TCP requests?
Select whether you want the BIG-IP system to queue TCP requests. TCP request queuing provides the ability to queue connection requests that exceed the capacity of connections for a pool, as determined by the connection limit. Consequently, instead of dropping connection requests that exceed the capacity of a pool, TCP request queuing enables those connection requests to reside within a queue according to defined conditions until capacity becomes available. For more information on TCP Request Queuing, see the Preventing TCP Connection Requests From Being Dropped chapter in the BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager: Implementationsguide, available on AskF5. Important TCP Request Queuing is an advanced feature and should be used only if you understand how it will affect your deployment, including application behavior and BIG-IP performance. If you enable TCP Request Queuing, you must have a Connection Limit set on at least one of the nodes when configuring the Address/Port for the nodes.

No, do not enable TCP request queuing (recommended)
Select this option if you do not want the BIG-IP system to queue TCP requests.

Yes, enable TCP request queuing
Select this option if you want to enable TCP request queuing on the BIG-IP system.

What is the maximum number of TCP requests for the queue?
Type the maximum number of requests you want to queue. We do not recommend using 0, which means unlimited and is only constrained by available memory.

How many milliseconds should requests remain in the queue?
Type a number of milliseconds for the TCP request timeout value.

Use a Slow Ramp time for newly added servers?
With Slow Ramp, the BIG-IP system gradually adds connections to a newly-enabled or newly-added HTTP server over a time period you specify, rather than sending a full proportion of the traffic immediately. Slow Ramp is essential when using the Least Connections load balancing method (our recommended method for web servers), as the BIG-IP system would otherwise send all new connections to a new server immediately, potentially overwhelming that server. Select whether you want to use a Slow Ramp time.

Use Slow Ramp
Select this option for the system to implement Slow Ramp time for this pool.

How many seconds should Slow Ramp time last?
Specify a duration in seconds, for Slow Ramp. The time period you select for Slow Ramp is highly dependent on the speed of your server hardware and the behavior of your web services. The default setting of 300 seconds (5 minutes) is very conservative in most cases.

Do not use Slow Ramp
Select this option if you do not want to use Slow Ramp. If you select this option, we recommend you do not use the Least Connections load balancing method.

Application Health

In this section, you answer questions about how you want to implement application health monitoring on the BIG-IP system.

Create a new health monitor or use an existing one?
Application health monitors are used to verify the content that is returned by an HTTP request. The system uses these monitors to ensure traffic is only sent to available HTTP servers. Unless you have requirements for configuring other options not in the following list of questions, we recommend allowing the iApp to create a new monitor. Creating a custom health monitor is not a part of this template; see Local Traffic >> Monitors. To select any new monitors you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Select the monitor you created from the list
If you manually created the health monitor, select it from the list. Continue with iRules.

Create a new health monitor If you want the iApp to create a new monitor, continue with the following.

How many seconds should pass between health checks?
Specify how long the system should wait between each health check. This is used as the Interval setting for the monitor. We recommend the default of 30 seconds.

What type of HTTP request should be sent to the servers?
Select whether you want the system to send an HTTP GET or POST request. The GET method requests data from the server, the POST submits data to be processed by the server.

GET
Select this option if you want the system to use a GET request. The system uses the URI you specify in the next question to request content from the HTTP server.

POST
Select this option if you want the system to use a POST request. The system uses the URI you specify in the next question, along with the HTTP POST body you will specify to form the request.

What HTTP URI should be sent to the servers? The HTTP URI is used to specify the resource on the web server for a given request. This parameter can be customized to request a specific part of your application, which can indicate the application-health on a granular level.

What HTTP version do your servers expect clients to use?
Choose the HTTP version which you expect most of your clients to be using. This allows the system to detect failures more accurately.

HTTP/1.0 Choose this option if you expect your clients to use HTTP/1.0.

HTTP/1.1 Choose this option if you expect your clients to use HTTP/1.1.

What HTTP POST body do you want to use for this monitor?This question only appears if you selected a POST request. If you selected a POST request, you must specify the message body for the POST.

What is the expected response to the HTTP request? Specify the response you expect returned from the request. The system checks the response from the server against the response you enter here to determine server health.

Should the health monitor require credentials?
Choose whether you want the system to attempt to authenticate to the web server deployment as a part of the health check.

No, allow anonymous access
Select this option if you do not want the monitor to attempt authentication.

Yes, require credentials for Basic authentication
Select this option if you want to attempt Basic authentication as a part of the health monitor. To require credentials, you should have a user account specifically for this health monitor which has no other privileges, and has a password set to never expire.

What user name should the monitor use?Type the domain and user name for the account you created for the health monitor. You must include the domain in front of the user, such as EXAMPLE\USER.

What is the associated password?Type the password for the account.

Yes, require credentials for NTLM authentication
Select this option if you want to attempt NTLM authentication as a part of the health monitor. To require credentials, you should have a user account specifically for this health monitor which has no other privileges, and has a password set to never expire.

What user name should the monitor use? Type the user name for the account you created for the health monitor. Important If you have a complex Active Directory environment where the username is not in the same domain as the Domain Controller being queried, you should prepend the domain name in uppercase letters (DOMAIN\) to the username in this field.

What is the associated password?
Type the password for the account.

Local Traffic Policies

This section is available only if you selected Advanced mode.

In this section, you can add custom Local Traffic Policies to the HTTP deployment. BIG-IP local traffic policies comprise a prioritized list of rules that match conditions you define and run specific actions which direct traffic accordingly. For example, you might create a policy that determines whether a client is using a mobile device, and then redirects its requests to the applicable mobile web site's URL. This template does not create any local traffic policies, you can only select policies you have already created outside the iApp template. For more information, see BIG-IP Local Traffic Management: Getting Started with Policiesavailable on AskF5.

Do you want to add any custom LTM policies to this configuration?Warning You cannot apply multiple policy rules referencing the same controls. Before applying one or more policies, ensure there are no policy rules with conflicting controls assigned. Note that improper use or misconfiguration of LTM policies can cause undesired results. We recommend verifying the impact of an LTM policy prior to deployment in a production environment. See the BIG-IP LTM documentation for complete details.
If you do not want to add any policies to the configuration, continue with the following section. If you have LTM policies you want to attach to the virtual server the iApp creates for your HTTP servers, from the Options box, click the name of the applicable policy(s) and then click the Add (<<) button to move them to the Selected box.

iRules

This section is available only if you selected Advanced mode.

In this section, you can add custom iRules to the HTTP deployment. This entire section is available only if you selected Advanced mode.

iRules are a scripting language that allows an administrator to instruct the system to intercept, inspect, transform, direct and track inbound or outbound application traffic. An iRule contains the set of instructions the system uses to process data flowing through it, either in the header or payload of a packet.

Do you want to add any custom iRules to the configuration?Warning While iRules can provide additional functionality not present in the iApp, improper use or misconfiguration of an iRule can result in unwanted application behavior and poor performance of your BIG-IP system. We recommended you verify the impact of an iRule prior to deployment in a production environment. If you do not want to add any iRules to the configuration, continue with the following section.
If you have iRules you want to attach to the virtual server the iApp creates for your web servers, from the Options box, click the name of the applicable iRule(s) and then click the Add (<<) button to move them to the Selected box.

Statistics and Logging

In this section, you answer questions about optional logging and statistics. This section is available only if you selected Advanced mode.

Do you want to enable Analytics for application statistics?
The Application Visibility Reporting (AVR) module for analytics allows you to view statistics specific to your application implementation. AVR is included and available on all BIG-IP systems v11 and later, however you must have the AVR provisioned for this option to appear. Note that this provisioning requirement is only for AVR, you can view object-level statistics from the BIG-IP system without provisioning AVR. Important Enabling Analytics may affect overall system performance. If you choose to enable Analytics, we recommend gathering statistics for a set time period, such as one week, and then re-entering this template and disabling Analytics while you process the data. If you plan on using AVR for HTTP-based analytics, we recommend creating a custom Analytics profile. To create a new profile, from the Main tab, select Profiles and then click HTTP Analytics. Click New and then configure the profile as applicable for your configuration. See the online help or product documentation for specific instructions. To select the new profile, you need to restart or reconfigure the iApp.

Do not enable Application Visibility Reporting
If you do not want to enable Analytics, leave this list set to No, and continue with the next section.

Select the Analytics profile you created from the list
If you choose to enable Analytics, select the Analytics profile you want to use for this implementation from the list.

Do you want to enable TCP-Analytics for application statistics?
The iApp allows you to select an analytics profile for TCP traffic. If you choose to enable TCP-analytics, we recommend creating a custom Analytics profile. To create a new profile, from the Main tab, select Profiles and then click TCP Analytics. Click New and then configure the profile as applicable for your configuration. See the online help or product documentation for specific instructions. To select the new profile, you need to restart or reconfigure the iApp.

Do not enable Application Visibility Reporting
If you do not want to enable Analytics, leave this list set to No, and continue with the next section.

Select the Analytics profile you created from the list
If you choose to enable Analytics, select the Analytics profile you want to use for this implementation from the list.

Which HTTP request logging profile do you want to use?
HTTP request logging enables customizable log messages to be sent to a syslog server for each HTTP request processed by your application. You can choose to enable HTTP request logging by selecting a logging profile you already created from the list. We strongly recommend you thoroughly test the performance impact of using this feature in a staging environment prior to enabling on a production deployment Creating a request logging profile is not a part of this template. See Local Traffic>>Profiles: Other: Request Logging. To select any new profiles you create, you need to restart or reconfigure this template.

Do not enable HTTP request logging
If you do not want to enable HTTP request logging, leave this list set to No, and continue with the next section.

Select the HTTP request logging profile you created from the list
If you choose to enable HTTP request logging, select the profile you want to use for this implementation from the list.

Finished

Review the answers to your questions. When you are satisfied, click the Finished button. The BIG-IP system creates the applicable objects for the HTTP application.

Next steps

After completing the iApp Template, the BIG-IP Application Services page opens for the HTTP service you just created. To see the list of all the configuration objects created to support the HTTP application, on the Menu bar, click Components. The complete list of all related objects opens. You can click individual objects to see the settings.

Once the objects have been created, you are ready to use the new deployment.

Modifying DNS settings to use the BIG-IP virtual server address

Before sending traffic to the BIG-IP system, your DNS administrator may need to modify any DNS entries for the HTTP implementation to point to the BIG-IP system’s virtual server address.

Modifying the iApp configuration

The iApp Application Service you just created can be quickly and easily modified if you find it necessary to make changes to the configuration. The Strict Updates feature of the iApp prevents users from manually modifying the iApp configuration (Strict Updates can be turned off, but use extreme caution). iApp allows you to re-enter the template, make changes, and then update the template. The modifications are automatically made to any of the associated objects.

To modify the configuration

On the Main tab, expand iApp and then click Application Services.

Click the name of your HTTP Application Service from the list.

On the Menu bar, click Reconfigure.

Make the necessary modifications to the template.

Click the Finished button.

Viewing statistics

You can easily view a number of different statistics on the BIG-IP system related to the configuration objects created by the iApp template. You can get statistics specific to the Application Service if you have provisioned AVR. Otherwise, you can always get object-level statistics.

AVR statistics

If you have provisioned AVR, you can get application-level statistics for your HTTP Application Service.

To view AVR statistics

On the Main tab, expand iApp and then click Application Services.

From the Application Service List, click the HTTP service you just created.

On the Menu bar, click Analytics.

Use the tabs and the Menu bar to view different statistics for your iApp.

Object-level statistics

If you have not provisioned AVR, or want to view object-level statistics, use the following procedure.

To view object-level statics

On the Main tab, expand Overview, and then click Statistics.

From the Statistics Type menu, you can select Virtual Servers to see statistics related to the virtual servers.

You can also choose Pools or Nodes to get a closer look at the traffic.

To see Networking statistics in a graphical format, click Dashboard.

For more information on viewing statistics on the BIG-IP system, see the online help or product documentation.

Troubleshooting

Q: I configured the iApp template to use AFM to Reject or Log access connections from sources with low reputation scores, why isn't the system rejecting or logging those connections?

A: This is a known issue with the iApp template. If you are using BIG-IP AFM and IP Intelligence, and configured the iApp template to log or reject connection attempts from sources with a low reputation scores, you must configure the Blacklist categories manually before connections are logged or rejected. Use the following guidance.

Disable Strict Updates if you have not already done so:

On the Main tab, expand iApp and then click Application Services.

Click the name of your HTTP Application Service from the list.

From the Application Service menu, select Advanced.

In the Strict Updates row, clear the checkbox to disable Strict Updates.

In the Blacklist Matching Policy area, from the Blacklist Category list, select a category that you want to log or reject, and then click Add.

Repeat step 3 to add all applicable blacklist categories.

Click Update.

You can optionally re-enable Strict Updates. Keep in mind, if you re-enter the iApp template and make changes to the configuration, you must perform this procedure again.

Appendix A: Manual configuration table

We strongly recommend using the iApp template to configure the BIG-IP system for HTTP applications. Users familiar with the BIG-IP system can use the following table to manually configure the BIG-IP system. The table contains a list of configuration objects along with any non-default settings you should configure as a part of this deployment. Settings not mentioned in the table can be configured as applicable for your configuration. For specific instructions on configuring individual objects, see the Help tab or product manuals.

TIP: If you are manually configuring the BIG-IP system, you may want to use the PDF version of this guide for easier viewing.

Health Monitors (Local Traffic > Monitors)

Name

Type a unique name

Type

HTTP (HTTPS if you are deploying SSL Bridging)

Interval

30 (recommended)

Timeout

91 (recommended)

Send String

Optional. The iApp creates a send string based on HTTP version and FQDN: GET /HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: example.com\r\n

Receive String

Optional. Type the expected response from the Send String. If you leave this blank, the server is marked up if any response is received.

User Name1

If necessary, type a user name with access to your application. We recommend creating an account for use in this monitor. If you are using NTLM authentication and have a complex Active Directory environment where the username is not in the same domain as the Domain Controller being queried, you must prepend the domain name in uppercase letters (DOMAIN\) to the username in this field.

If using BIG-IP AAM for symmetric optimization between systems, select the iSession profile you created.

Default Pool2

Select the pool you created

Persistence Profile2

Select the Persistence profile you created

iRule4

If offloading SSL only: Enable the built-in _sys_https_redirect irule

HTTPS4

Name

Type a unique name.

Address

Type the IP Address for the virtual server

Service Port

443

Protocol Profile (client)1

Select the WAN optimized TCP profile you created

Protocol Profile (server)1

Select the LAN optimized TCP profile you created

HTTP Profile

Select the HTTP profile you created above

Web Acceleration profile

Select the Web Acceleration profile you created

HTTP Compression profile

Select the HTTP Compression profile you created

OneConnect

Select the OneConnect profile you created

SSL Profile (Client)

Select the Client SSL profile you created

SSL Profile (Server)6

If you created a Server SSL profile, select it from the list

Source Address Translation3

Auto Map (optional; see footnote 3)

iSession profile5

If using BIG-IP AAM for symmetric optimization between systems, select the iSession profile you created.

Default Pool

Select the pool you created

Persistence Profile

Select the Persistence profile you created

1 You must select Advanced from the Configuration list for these options to appear 2 Do not enable these objects on the HTTP virtual server if offloading SSL. The HTTP virtual server is only used for redirecting users to the HTTPS virtual server.

3 If using SNAT and expecting more than 64,000 simultaneous connections, you must configure a SNAT Pool with an IP address for each 64,000 simultaneous connections you expect. See the BIG-IP documentation on configuring SNAT Pools.

4 Only necessary if offloading SSL or SSL Bridging

5 Only necessary if using the BIG-IP AAM to provide symmetric optimization. Do not create/use this profile if you are deploying the BIG-IP on the server side of the WAN

6 Only necessary if using the BIG-IP system for SSL Bridging or server-side encryption

This section describes how to manually configure BIG-IP AFM, F5's Network Firewall module, to secure your HTTP deployment. BIG-IP AFM is particularly useful if you want to only allow access from specific clients or networks. Because this configuration can be complex, we recommend using the iApp template in version 11.6 and later to configure BIG-IP AFM.

If you have licensed IP Intelligence on the BIG-IP system, you can prohibit connections from sources with low reputation scores.

The following instructions cover a basic firewall configuration that is effective for the most common scenario of wanting to allow connections from a single trusted network. If you have complex requirements, such as the need to schedule different policies for different times of the day, or you want to create complicated rule or address lists, consult the BIG-IP AFM documentation. The basic steps for Policy and Rule creation apply to all scenarios.

In the Name field, type a unique name for the policy, such as Web-Policy.

Click Finished.

Create a rule to allow authorized hosts or networks to connect.

Click Security > Network Firewall > Policies.

Click the name of the policy you just created.

In the Rule section (below the General Properties section), click the Add button.

Leave the Type list set to Rule.

From the Order list, select First. The Order list only appears in version 11.5 and later. In 11.4.x, you must reorder the rules from the Policy General Properties page.

In the Name field, type a unique name, for instance Web-traffic-Allowed.

Ensure the State list is set to Enabled.

From the Protocol list, select TCP. Leave the box to the right of TCP set to 6.

In the Source section, from the Address/Region list, select Specify. You are now able to list the trusted source addresses for your connection. In the following example, we will configure a single subnet as trusted.

Select Address.

In the box, type the network address you want to allow, including netmask if more than a single host. Specify a network using CIDR notation, such as 10.0.0.0/24.

Do not configure a source port.

Optional: If you want to limit inbound connections to a specific VLAN or Tunnel, from the VLAN / Tunnel list, select Specify, and then move the VLANs or tunnels that are allowed access to the Selected box.

Click Add.

Repeat these steps for additional hosts or networks. Use Address List or Address Range when appropriate.

In the Destination section, leave the Address/Region and Port set to Any. Because you will be applying your policy to a virtual server that listens only on a single desired address and port, do not specify that information here.

If necessary, from the Action list, select Accept.

Optional: If you have configured a logging profile and want to log connections, from the Logging list, select Enabled. Typically, allowed connections do not need to be logged.

Click Finished.

Creating a firewall rule to block all other traffic The next task is to create a firewall rule to block all other traffic that you have not allowed. Although this is not a required step if your BIG-IP system is set to default deny (Firewall mode), it is required in default-accept (ADC mode), and is a good practice to always configure such a rule.

Click Security > Network Firewall > Policies.

Click the name of the policy you created in step 1.

In the Rule section (below the General Properties section), click the Add button.

Leave the Type list set to Rule.

Leave the Order list, select Last.

In the Name field, type a unique name, for example Web-traffic-Prohibited.

Ensure the State list is set to Enabled.

From the Protocol list, select TCP. Leave the box to the right of TCP set to 6.

In the Source section, leave all the lists set to Any

From the Action list, select either Drop (to silently discard incoming connections) or Reject (to send a Destination Unreachable message to the sender).

On the Policy Properties page, in the Rules section, ensure the rule with the Action of Accept comes before the Drop or Reject rule you just created. If it does not, use the Reorder button and drag the rules into the correct order.

Apply Your Firewall Policy to your Virtual Server

Click Security > Network Firewall > Active.Rules.

In the Rule section (below the General Properties section), click the Add button.

From the Context list, select Virtual Server, and then select the virtual server you created for your Web traffic.

From the Type list, select Policy, and then select the firewall policy you created.

If you want to restrict access to your HTTP virtual server based on the reputation of the remote sender, you can enable and assign an IP Intelligence policy. This requires an IP intelligence license; contact your F5 Sales representative for more information.

After you have enabled and configured an IP Intelligence policy, use the following procedure to assign the policy to your HTTP virtual server:

To assign the IP intelligence policy to the HTTP virtual server

On the Main tab, click Local Traffic > Virtual Servers. The Virtual Server List screen opens.

Click the name of your HTTP virtual server.

From the Security menu, choose Policies.

Next to IP Intelligence, select Enabled, then select the IP intelligence policy to apply to traffic on the virtual server.

Click Update. The list screen and the updated item are displayed. The IP Intelligence policy is applied to traffic on the virtual server.

Optional: Configuring the BIG-IP system to log network firewall events

If you are using BIG-IP AFM, you have the option of logging network firewall events to one or more remote syslog servers (recommended) or to log events locally. You can either use an iApp template to create the logging profile, or create the logging profile manually.

For specific information on logging on the BIG-IP system, see the appropriate guide for your version. For example, for 11.5.0:

From the Template list, select f5.remote_logging.v. The template opens

Use the following table for guidance on configuring the iApp template. Questions not mentioned in the table can be configured as applicable for your implementation.

Question

Your selection

Do you want to create a new pool of remote logging servers, or use an existing one?

Unless you have already created a pool on the BIG-IP system for your remote logging servers, select Create a new pool.

Which servers should be included in this pool?

Specify the IP addresses of your logging servers. Click Add to include more servers.

What port do the pool members use?

Specify the port used by your logging servers, typically 514.

Do the pool members expect UDP or TCP connections?

TCP

Do you want to create a new monitor for this pool, or use an existing one?

Unless you have already created a health monitor for your pool of logging servers, select Use a simple ICMP (ping) monitor.

Do your log pool members require a specific log format?

If your logging servers require a specific format, select the appropriate format from the list.

Click Finished.

On the Main tab, click Local Traffic > Virtual Servers. The Virtual Server List screen opens.

Click the name of your HTTP virtual server.

From the Security menu, choose Policies.

Next to Log Profile, select Enabled, then select the Logging profile you created.

Click Update. The list screen and the updated item are displayed.

Note: The iApp template creates a log publisher and attaches it to the logging profile. If the publisher does not appear in the BIG-IP Configuration utility (GUI), you can verify the configuration by running the following command from the Traffic Management shell (tmsh): list security log profile .

Creating logging profile manually

If you do not want to use the iApp template to create a logging profile, use this section for guidance on configuring the logging profile manually. You must have access to the tmsh command line to use this method.

To manually configure a logging profile

Use the following guidance for configuring a health monitor and load balancing pool for the logging servers.

Create the logging profile to tie everything together. If you chose to log allowed connections, include the green text (as in step 2 substep l in To configure the BIG-IP AFM to allow connections from a single trusted network). If you set the rule to drop incoming connections, include the text in blue. If you chose to log IP intelligence events, include the text in red to add the parameter that sets the log publisher.

Assigning the logging profile to the virtual server

The final task is to assign the logging profile to the virtual server.

To assign the logging profile to the HTTP virtual server

On the Main tab, click Local Traffic > Virtual Servers. The Virtual Server List screen opens.

Click the name of your HTTP virtual server.

From the Security menu, choose Policies.

Next to Log Profile, select Enabled, then select the Logging profile you created.

Click Update. The list screen and the updated item are displayed.

Appendix B: Configuring additional BIG-IP settings

This section contains information on configuring the BIG-IP system for objects or settings that are required, but not part of the template.

Configuring DNS and NTP settings

If you are configuring the iApp to use BIG-IP APM, you must configure DNS and NTP settings on the BIG-IP system before beginning the iApp.

Configuring the DNS settings

In this section, you configure the DNS settings on the BIG-IP system to point to a DNS server that can resolve your Active Directory server or servers. In many cases, this IP address will be that of your Active Directory servers themselves.

Note: DNS lookups go out over one of the interfaces configured on the BIG-IP system, not the management interface. The management interface has its own, separate DNS settings.

Important The BIG-IP system must have a self IP address in the same local subnet and VLAN as the DNS server, or a route to the DNS server if located on a different subnet. The route configuration is found on the Main tab by expanding Network and then clicking Routes. For specific instructions on configuring a route on the BIG-IP system, see the online help or the product documentation.

To configure DNS settings

On the Main tab, expand System, and then click Configuration.

On the Menu bar, from the Device menu, click DNS.

In the DNS Lookup Server List row, complete the following:

In the Address box, type the IP address of a DNS server that can resolve the Active Directory server.

Click the Add button.

Click Update.

Configuring the NTP settings

The next task is to configure the NTP settings on the BIG-IP system for authentication to work properly.

To configure NTP settings

On the Main tab, expand System, and then click Configuration.

On the Menu bar, from the Device menu, click NTP.

In the Address box, type the fully-qualified domain name (or the IP address) of the time server that you want to add to the Address List.

Click the Add button.

Click Update.

To verify the NTP setting configuration, you can use the ntpqutility. From the command line, run ntpq -np.

Document Revision History

Version

Description

Date

1.0

New Deployment Guide for HTTP iApp version v1.2.0rc1 available in the RELEASE CANDIDATE directory of the iApp package available on downloads.f5.com. This iApp contains the following major changes over the f5.http iApp template that ships with the BIG-IP system:

- The iApp now has the ability to include a custom Access Profile created outside the iApp template.

- The iApp now has the ability to include the AFM DoS and HTTP Security profiles.

01-26-2016

1.1

- Added a note to health monitor section in the iApp walkthough concerning when to prepend Domain information if using NTLM authentication. Added the same note to the manual configuration table.

- Added support for BIG-IP version 12.1

05-18-2016

1.2

Update this Deployment Guide for HTTP iApp version v1.2.0rc4 available in the RELEASE CANDIDATE directory of the iApp package available on downloads.f5.com. This iApp contains the following changes over v1.2.0rc1:

- The iApp now has the ability to use ASM in the configuration if you are using BIG-IP version 12.0 or later. The iApp now can create a new ASM policy (in previous versions you had to select an existing policy).

- Fixed an issue with address translation being disabled if the iApp was configured to not use a pool.

- Added support for BIG-IP v12.1.1.

10-18-2016

1.3

Updated this guide for HTTP iApp version v1.2.0rc5 of the iApp template available in the RELEASE CANDIDATE directory of the iApp package available on downloads.f5.com. This iApp contains the following changes:

- Added the ability to select and apply any LTM policy present on BIG-IP to the virtual server(s) created by the iApp. This new section only appears in Advanced mode.

- Fixed an issue that would result in an error state when trying to deploy the iApp for ASM in BIG-IP versions 12.1 and later.

12-15-2016

1.4

Added support for BIG-IP version 13.0

02-22-2017

1.5

Removed references to the ASM module requiring BIG-IP v12.0 and later. This is a requirement for the iApp that ships with the BIG-IP system, but not the release candidate iApps.

03-10-2017

1.6

Updated this guide for HTTP iApp version v1.2.0rc7 of the iApp template available in the RELEASE CANDIDATE directory of the iApp package available on downloads.f5.com. This iApp contains the following changes:

Updated this guide for the fully supported HTTP iApp version v1.2.0 of the iApp template available in the HTTP directory of the iApp package available on downloads.f5.com. This iApp contains the following changes:

- This iApp template is now fully supported by F5 Networks.

- Removed the recommended label from the wan-optimized compression profile selection in the iApp, as compression is not typically recommended if clients are on a LAN.